Monday March 13, 2017

Intel has purchased autonomous car technology company Mobilieye for $15.3 billion. Mobileye technology such as advanced driver assistance and anti collision systems are found in 70% of the self driving car global market. The two companies have been collaborating on developing a fleet of BMW autonomous cars that are scheduled to be road tested the second half of 2017. Mobileye has been purchasing it's chips from STMicroelectronics, and is currently assisting Intel with the design of it's 5th generation of autonomous driving chips that are scheduled for release in 2021.

Mobileye was founded in 1999 and received $130 million in investment funding from Goldman Sachs in 2007. Mobileye had an adjusted net income of $173 million in 2016 and was valued at $10.6 billion in 2014. This deal may be in response to the $47 billion Qualcomm purchase of sensor manufacturer NXP; which put tremendous pressure on the other players in the field.

Last October, Qualcomm announced a $47 billion deal to acquire NXP, the largest automotive chip supplier, putting pressure on other chipmakers seeking to make inroads into the market for autonomous driving components, including Intel, Mobileye and rival NVIDIA NVDIA.O. The Qualcomm-NXP deal, which will create the industry's largest portfolio of sensors, networking and other elements vital to autonomous driving, is expected to close later in 2017, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.